Summer is coming to an end. It's time to say a temporary goodbye to flowery dresses, to bright pink lipstick, and to spontaneous road trips — for now.

Summer 2016, thank you for all of our random and exciting adventures, but I gladly welcome fall with open arms; the new season means drinking apple cider, opening my scarf and sweater collection, putting on bold red lipstick and learning in school. The last one sounds a bit crazy, but truthfully speaking, I am looking forward to the upcoming school year.

I'm only on my third week of junior year, and I'm already overloaded with schoolwork, as expected. There's something about this heavy workload, though, that's kind of...exciting? My unpopular opinion is probably due to the fact that I spent too much of my summer carefree and unproductive, staying at home and watching T.V., but going to school makes me way more productive and gives me a steady routine each day.

Besides finally having a daily routine again, I am looking forward to school because I get to see my friends almost every day after spending two months apart. (Honestly, we were too lazy to make plans.) I'm really glad to be part of a tight-knit group of friends that cares strongly about academics the way I do and is involved in almost the same extracurricular activities that I am.

Even though summer is practically over, and school work is piling up, I am more than ready to take on junior year — supposedly the toughest high school year. Like most, I am taking more AP courses this year, which generates the majority of my workload. However, I look at the big picture and keep in mind that no matter what grades I receive, the experience will prepare me for the real thing: university. Let's not get ahead of ourselves, though. I'll worry about college when it comes.

School means that, while often I am just "memorizing" information for tomorrow's quiz, I am also discovering interests in different subjects. I have to admit that I've never been much of a science-person. Since middle school, I haven't been too interested in studying genetics or motion, but last year, I took chemistry and realized that I shouldn't have generalized about all sciences. I absolutely loved the course. This year, I am continuing with AP Chemistry, which is by far the most difficult course I am taking now (and possibly ever) with the heaviest workload of all my classes. Oddly enough, I still love it since some of my closest friends are in the same class. Plus, despite the difficulty, it's also really fascinating (I even bought a Lewis Structure Kit!)

Along with the rigorous courses I am taking this year, I'm also involved in multiple after-school extracurriculars. I'm getting home later with less time to study, and maybe it will mean I'll drink a few cups of coffee to stay up studying past midnight. In the end, I know it'll be worth it. There is so much that comes with school besides sitting in a classroom trying to stay awake or sitting at home memorizing terms for a test the following day. For me, I get to see my best friends everyday, become involved in so many fun extracurriculars, and learn about subjects I barely knew anything about before classes started.